


There Are Monsters (that live in your head)

by Lichinamo, morganmulac



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Handcuffs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Horror, Possession, Whether You Like It Or Not, Whump, even softer Howard, me n morgan are single handedly gonna fill the woward tag, minor injury, soft Wilbur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26850589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lichinamo/pseuds/Lichinamo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/morganmulac/pseuds/morganmulac
Summary: A certain Mister Pwezzy-Wez and his partner get a visitor from an old fwendy-wend of theirs.They're not happy to see him.
Relationships: Wilbur Cross/Howard Goodman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Howard is the FORMER president of the united states, but he's still called Mr President because that is technically a proper form of address for him

“Mister President, your three o’clock is here.”

Howard looked up from his desk and smiled at Susan. “You can send her in.”

Susan nodded and walked out, presumably to let the girl in. 

Howard put his pen down and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t know why she’d requested the meeting, but somehow she’d managed to get it all the way up to the Oval Office, and, damnit, Howard was a curious man.

The girl who walked in had red hair and a benign smile. “Mister President?”

Howard smiled. “Miss Whig, is it? What is it you wanted to see me about?”

Miss Whig’s smile grew wider, almost feral. “I’m just passing on a message from a fwendy-wend of mine.”

Fear shot through Howard as Miss Whig- no, the Sniggle, Wilbur had told him that the servants of Wiggly were called Sniggles and she had to be a servant of Wiggly- lunged forwards, teeth bared as she grabbed him by the temples.

Howard struggled against her but she was impossibly strong. His body was overcome with a tingling sensation, his head was spinning, and he heard a voice whisper in his ear, “Hello, Mistew Pwezzy-Wez. I think you have something that doesn’t belong to you. I hope you don’t mind if I take it back.”

Howard blacked out.


	2. Hewwo, Wiley

Wilbur didn’t think he worried too much about Howard. He worried the perfect amount.

His partner- the first person to show him kindness after he escaped Wiggly, the sweetest, most gentle soul on the Earth- was basically a walking, talking target. That wasn’t even factoring in the danger Wilbur put him in by associating with him.

Wilbur had felt a sinking feeling in his gut since midday. He had been trying to brush it off, expecting that once he got home and back to Howie that it would all melt away… how wrong he had been.

At first glance, everything seemed fine.

“Howie, dear!” Wilbur called out to the silent house as he dropped his backpack, arms full with take out bags, hoping that Howard would make his way out and push all of Wilburs worries away. “I picked up dinner on the way home-”

Wilbur trailed off. Howard was standing in the middle of the kitchen, not moving a muscle, staring straight forwards at him. A chill ran up Wilbur’s spine, and he called out again, hesitantly, “Howie?”

An impossibly large grin split across Howard’s face, and he tilted his head to the side as he said, slowly, in a voice that didn’t belong to him, “Howie’s not here right now, Wiley.”

Wilbur dropped the food. “Wiggly.”

“How’s my bestest buddy-wud doing?” Howard- no, not Howard, it was Wiggly wearing Howard’s face- took a few intimidating steps forward, and it took everything in Wilbur not to step back. Don’t show fear, Wilbur, that’s how he gets you.

“I’m not your buddy-wud,” Wilbur said, hoping he sounded confident, praying that his voice didn’t betray him.

“Oh, but aren’t you?” Wiggly-as-Howard was much closer to him now, Wilbur could see the unearthly glowing green in his eyes that betrayed his possession. Wilbur was almost lucky he’d spent so much time in the Black-and-White; their lingering effect on him was the only reason he could see it. “You were such a good fwendy-wend, Wiley.”

Wiggly-as-Howard’s hands began touching Wilbur’s chest, possessive, almost-loving. Wilbur wanted to lean into it, pull Howard into his arms and kiss him fiercely, feel Howard’s arms wrap around his waist, tangle his fingers in his hair-

But this wasn’t Howard. This was Wiggly.

Wilbur pushed him away harshly, and he barely had a second to register Wiggly-as-Howard’s growl of anger before he was lunging at Wilbur, his teeth bared like an animal and sinking into his neck.

Wilbur’s knees buckled and he let out a noise of pain. He struggled to force Wiggly-as-Howard off of him. Did he fight back and risk hurting his love, or did he only defend himself?

No, he couldn’t risk letting Wiggly have a hold on Howard. He couldn’t.

Wilbur summoned all the strength he could muster and sent a silent prayer that Howard would forgive him before he slammed his palm into his solar plexus, knocking him out cold.

Wilbur cradled the unconscious man and slowly slid to the ground. Hopefully it was enough to expel Wiggly from his partner.


	3. Finale

Howard woke up in bed.

The blankets were tucked firmly around him, military style. That must mean Wilbur had put him to bed, then. He’d probably come home after a long day at work, welcomed by Wilbur’s warm and open arms, and they’d probably had dinner and cuddled before going to bed.

Howard frowned when he realized he didn’t actually remember getting home. Come to think of it, everything from the day before was quite fuzzy.

He struggled to sit up and found that his right hand was restrained, handcuffed to the headboard. He shook his arm in a futile attempt to free it.

Howard glanced around and found Wilbur sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking like he’d been awake for some time now, his eyes lingering on Howard’s face.

Howard gave his partner a slightly playful smile. “A bit early to be having some fun, isn’t it, honey? At least let me wake up first.”

Wilbur gave him a reserved smile. “How are you feeling, Howie?” His voice was soft, almost hesitant. He looked wound up like a spring.

“I feel all right, Wilbur. My head’s all fuzzy, though. What happened last night?”

Wilbur didn’t answer his question. “Can you tell me what movie we watched on our third date?”

Howard furrowed his brow in confusion. “We didn’t watch a movie on our third date. We couldn’t decide between a cheesy action film or an even cheesier rom-com, so we just marathoned Chopped until we fell asleep on the couch.”

Wilbur’s face collapsed with relief, and he practically scrambled over to Howard’s side, fumbling to uncuff him, saying with emotion, “ _Howie._ ”

Oh. _Oh,_ something bad must’ve happened last night, to worry Wilbur like this.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Howie,” Wilbur was babbling, rubbing Howard’s wrist gently once it was freed and climbing into bed with him. He was practically straddling Howard, but it wasn’t sexual; it was like he was trying to reassure himself that Howard was there, he was safe.

Howard frowned up at him, cupping the Southern man’s cheek gently. Tears were starting to leak from Wilbur’s eyes, which just worried Howard more; Wilbur never cried. “What do you have to be sorry for?”

Wilbur pressed a kiss to Howard’s palm before dropping his head down and resting his forehead on Howard’s. “I couldn’t- I couldn’t protect you- Wiggly-”

Memories started coming back to Howard in flashes. Neon green, dark laughter, pain. So much pain. Howard couldn’t suppress a shiver, and he opened his mouth to respond, when his eyes landed on Wilbur’s neck.

Howard raised his free hand to gently touch the purpling skin. “Wilbur, honey. I hurt you.”

Wilbur shook his head, arms wrapping around Howard- one going around his waist and the other going around his shoulders, his hand making its way into his hair- and cradling him close. “No- no, Howie, don’t. It wasn’t you. It was him. It’s my fault, I should’ve kept you safe- should’ve kept you away from him-”

“Hey, hey, look at me.” Howard managed to maneuver Wilbur so that he was looking him in the eye, despite the fact that they were in such close quarters. “There was no way you could have known.”

Wilbur shook his head frantically. “But I _did_ know. I knew that by being with me, I was putting you in danger.”

“I knew the risks when I started loving you,” Howard said softly. “Just like you knew the risks when you started loving me.”

Wilbur’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I- I’m sorry, I just-”

Howard ran his thumb over Wilbur’s cheek gently. “I know, honey. I know. Why don’t you get some rest? You look like you haven’t slept.”

Wilbur crawled off of Howard and climbed under the sheets, scooting to lay as close to Howard as physically possible.

Howard laid back down on his side and wrapped his arms around Wilbur gently. “It’s okay, my darling. I’ve got you.”

Wilbur rested his head on Howard’s chest, and Howard rubbed his back gently, humming until the other man fell asleep.


End file.
